Kendrick Lamar Talks New Album, GRAMMY Performance, ‘Control’ Verse

Kendrick Lamar is nominated for seven GRAMMY Awards this year, which it only the tip of the iceberg for all that the 26-year-old rap phenom has accomplished. In a new interview with Jeff Weiss at The Hollywood Reporter, Lamar reveals some behind the scene thought process for his co-performance at this year’s GRAMMY Awards with Imagine Dragons. The two will perform a mashup of Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” with Lamar’s half-title track, “M.a.a.d. City”.

Kendrick keeps most things shrouded in mystery, including the specifics of his GRAMMY performance. But he does reiterate what he thought about his “Control” verse that dropped earlier this year, the one that sent a shockwave through the rap community.

“It wasn’t pre-meditated, it just came to me when I was writing that bar,” says Lamar. “The crazy part is, I didn’t think it would ever go to where diss records were coming at me. I thought people would be like… he threw some challenges out there… that was dope.”

He went on to talk a little about his rumored follow-up record to the pitch perfect good kid m.A.A.d. city.